SNU Commencement 2013 in Review

SNU Commencement 2013 in Review

"There's nothing on a university campus like graduation day. The excitement and joy of this day is unparalleled for the campus community. We enjoyed the two-day event with about 450 graduates and their families. Our expectations are that this class will join the 110 previous graduating cohorts of SNU to do wonderful things for the world in which they will work and serve. Our investment in their lives will be rewarded richly over the coming decades,” said Loren Gresham, PhD, President of Southern Nazarene University.

Dr. Howard Culbertson, Professor, Department of Ministry and Theology, began the processional by carrying in the Academic Mace. The honor of Academic Mace Bearer is awarded by a faculty vote to a senior member of the SNU faculty in recognition of dedicated service and outstanding qualities that exemplify the SNU motto. Dr. Culbertson has served full-time as an SNU faculty member since 1988.

The commencement address was delivered by Myrna Latham (Class of ’78), Myrna Schack Latham is an attorney and shareholder in the law firm of McAfee & Taft in Oklahoma City where she also serves as the chair of the firm’s legal ethics committee. Ms. Latham graduated from Southern Nazarene University (then Bethany Nazarene College) in 1978 with a B.A. degree, and she received a J.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1985. Ms. Latham is currently president of the Southern Nazarene University Foundation, a member of the SNU Board of Trustees and the co-chair of SNU’s Peer Learning Network. Ms. Latham is listed in Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America (real estate law), and Oklahoma Super Lawyers.

Four honorary degrees were given during the ceremony. Rev. Robert (Rob) McDonald, Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, and Rev. C.B. Glidden were conferred the Doctor of Divinity degree, and Mr. Gerald W. Smith was honored with the Doctor of Humane Letters. For more information on these recipients, please click here.

Two students, Brad Crofford and Amy Madden, were awarded The President’s Award. This honor is the highest award at SNU for traditional undergraduate students. Recipients of this award are nominated based on academic excellence, service, campus leadership and a demonstration of the qualities reflected in SNU’s motto, “Character, Culture, Christ.”

The morning Commencement was followed by the tradition of the Ivy Ring with graduating seniors and their families.

Southern Nazarene University's mission is to transform lives through higher education in Christ-centered community. As a Christian community of scholars, we model the hospitality of grace, the pursuit of truth and the practice of discipleship, all within the Wesleyan-holiness tradition, as we prepare graduates who THINK with clarity, ACT with integrity and SERVE with purpose.

Founded in 1899, Southern Nazarene University is a private, Christian, liberal arts university - a service of the Church of the Nazarene. Located on a 40-acre campus just west of Oklahoma City, SNU grew out of several small colleges committed to training people for service to God and their fellow man. More than 32,000 alumni work and serve throughout the United States and the world. Read More